Range-finder.



A. B. COX. RANGEHNDER. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24. 1917.

1 8, 1 ma Patented July 23, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

(gm/904060? 53M Git mug,

.A- B. COX.

RANGE FINDER.

APPLICATION FILED ra.24. I917.

11. $73, 1 5%., Patented July 23, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- /kMJ$W w im WWW M @WWE- ABR M; mm, 01 m BANGE-FI DER 7 b dll whom it may concern: i "fBe lt knownjthat L AmmliAivfi B Cox; eltlzen' ofthe Thuted States, and a" resident portable' Tmige'fihder 'whieh is Well adapted for use of infantry, engiheers, ohethers Wht) desire to fiild it rzwzige hetweehObjects 0i comparatively short distances apartquidfly 'arl'd' aecuiately. 1M3 invelitiori isintehded t9 prhducejan 'ztppztiatus 0f, this kind which is" of simple substantial aha-meter se'that it can standwrough usage ahdiiifaet eoiisti'uct it in such a; maniiei' that if some Of'the 13 arts hecqme bent, or? disteited, the parts j ean he straightened out again ahd the; appm' -z tus used. "While the inveiitioH-ispaftidultrlyV adapted for the purpeses stated, it can also bemade 0 1 a' larger scaleyahdfor navalor marine Werk, andifof'donger ranges.

2' In cam'yii g Qut ny ihventioii Iuse Ei, fixed miri ofsimilat Qtdthat "(if Ia sextant, halving the 'lowei portion" clouded ,ahd f the upper VPOI' D i OH QIGflI'; which iserrzphgedqpposlte :1 si 'ht 0i peephole, and fatanhan gie t -zm opaque i eflectiihgmirror which is z dpistdhie, and the second lIliI'I' Ol is actuated by a emu arm sand eOiineh'tipns betweeiii'thecgtm end the .secohd mirror, so that whef'i the emu arm is i1i0Ved,thesec"0hd iilirrorf. czti'i be 2idjtisted until the 'feiieetioii from {lipofythe first lljliITQl-HCEtUSGS the imageto coincide with .the ohject as fviewed thmmgh the sight of the i11St1L111 1G 1it Llt which point the" eath arr n \f Vill-d nCiiC itte 011 Yen seale 1 adj scent to it the distance .hehwee 'Qthe bj eeflyiewed aiid triangle, and the line from the hjectviewed eoihcideg the distahoes canybe essenti'a11yTde-- tel mined wand indicated by Whe Gain mun, which} of cbursemusthe pneperly listed and aacurzvtely made 1501* pu rposeg all "of which will appear clearly' ffiem the deserip tien which followsj l l i -Reference is-to be hadto the accompany ing drawings-forming a part bf this spel /iii- 0at10 1, in* -W1iichsimilar refeiwemce ich ametefrs in diztte eorresphdi ng L pai'ts in all? the views. 3 1 Fig-lire 1 is a r P1311 View '0fthe=2vppa1fa,tfls embodying"my inventidn; 2-is aside elevzttio -bf thers me! t Fig-1' 3 x15 a cross seetiomgdthe hue 44-3 f'liig'l 1. i ii is a br0ken'e 1avged* detail-pen spe'etlve of a, part of the link which "@011- nects With'the eresserm.

Fig. 5 is a detaillsectio n on the 1i11e5+ -5 93% maehin is roykidied with Etfiatthble 01" base 101mm, stphds on suitable sho t S lliDlOOltS, ahd at Qne ehd is preferably end 19 at the The mirror 14 is placed so as to receive reflections from an opaque mirror at the opposite end of the machine, and this is secured on a bracket 21 similar to the bracket 17, and having screw holes 22 and 22,(see Fig. 9) to receive the fastening screws "23 and 25. This mirror20 is thus secured to a lever 26 which lies flatwise on the machine, and has a hinge joint at one end as shown best in Fig. 8. To provide against any slack or lost motion, and for a very accurate movement of the lever 26 I make the joint in the following manner. The lever is split near one end to receive the leaf or fiat spring 27 which is held also between the-members 28 and 29, these being clamped together by a screw 30, and

1 where themembers28 and 29 abut with the end of the lever 26, the parts are rounded ofiaslshown at 28 in Fig. 8, so that the lever 26 can turn on its hinge, but the movement will be slight and will result from the slight bending of the member 27. Near its free end the lever 26. has an abutment 31 preferablyin the shape of a cup which re- 'ceives one end of the spiral spring. 32, the opposite end of the spring entering a similar cup 32 on an abutment 33 which is rigid on the base 10. Thus the lever 26 has its slight movement against the tension of the spring 32. I

At its free end the lever 26 ,is offset as shown at 26 and terminates in an upright post 34 (see Fig. 6) which is split to re eeive' the flat spring 35, and this is bound by a clamping screw 36. The spring 35 forms a connection with the split post 37 which rides on the reduced and raised end 38 of the arm 39. The arm 39 has a bearing ring or journal 40 split at one side as shown at 41, vand these parts fasten together by a screw 42, this journal riding on a stud 43 (see Fig. 3) which rises from the base 10; This arrangement makesa very firm andsteady bearing for the arms It will be noticed that the end 38 of the arm projects' beyond the center of the journal 40 and stud 43 soas to make the connection with the post-37 an eccentric one, and thus the tilting of the arm 39 will cause a movementof the spring 36 and the lever 26 with which connection is made.

The arm 39 moves beneath a keeper 44 on'the base 10, and at its'tree end the arm is undercut as shown at 39 andprovided with a pm45 which rides on the cam arm,

tends from the point a around one edge and nearly the entire length of the arm, and at its end the arm has a stop 49 to engage and limit the movement of the roller 45.

This cam arm must of course be accurately made and mounted. A preferred way of mounting it is to provide it with a trunnion 50 on the under side which seats in a journal 51 on the under side of the base 10. The trunnion 50 is grooved as shown at 52 to receive a bolt 53 which extends across a split portion 54 of the journal bearing 51, and thus the bolt serves to clamp the journal upon the trunnion and also hold the trunnion so that it can turn but cannot be accidentally removed from its bearing. The journal ring 51 is rigid on the base 10 and on the side next the bolt 53 is transversely cut to the point 55 indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5 and shown clearly in full lines in Fig. 2. This is an ordinary expedient and is done simply to make the ring 55'sufiiciently flexible so that it can be tightened or loosened by the bolt 53 and its nut.

In operating the instrument the operator looks through the sight 13 and clear part of the mirror 14 to the object desired, and the distance of which. it is desired to measure. He then moves the cam arm 46 and this causes the arm 39 to tilt on the stud 43 and pull on the spring 35, and imparts aeorresponding movement to the lever 26 which turns on its hinged joint and tilts the mirror 20. By adjusting the cam arm back and forth it can be moved to the point where the image reflected from the mirror 20 will exactly coincide with the object viewed directly through the clear mirror 15, and when this occurs, the position of the cam arm on the scale of the table 11 will indicate the distance.

It will be seen that the instrument is extremely simple and easy to operate, and that it can be made of such strong construction that there will be no danger of its parts becoming seriously disarranged or impaired, and further that the instrument can be made of a size to measure any reasonable distance desired.

Attention is calledto the adjustable con nection between the members 26 and 39 by means of the spring or lca'l 35. It will be understood'that the proper relation of: the mirrors 14 and 20 must be maintained, and that they should be essentially parallel when the pin 45 is at the position of maximum distance on the cam 46. It, now, in use one or both of the members 26 and 39 becomes bent or distorted, the proper relation of the mirrors can still be maintained and very easily determined, by simply adjusting the length of the member 35 or the position of the member 21 on the lever 26.

I claim 1. A range finder comprising a sight, it

mirror partly clear and partly opaque in alinement with the sight, a second mirror arranged to cast a reflected image upon the first mirror, a lever supporting the second mirror, a swinging arm generally parallel with a lever, a flexible connection between the swinging arm and the lever, and a cam arm arranged to actuate the aforesaid swinging arm. i

2. A range finder comprising a base, a sight on the base, a mirror partly opaque and partly clear in alinement with the sight, a lever lying upon the base, a second mirror movable on the lever and arranged to cast a reflected image upon the first mirror, a swinging arm having an eccentric connection with the lever, an adjustable element connecting the swinging arm with the lever,

and a cam arm arranged to actuate the aforesaid arm and movable the base. 7

3. A range finder comprising a base, a sight thereon, a mirror partly opaque and partly clear alining with the sight, a lever lying flatwise on the base, said lever having a hinge at one end formed by a flat spring connecting the end of the lever with a sup port, a second mirror mounted on the lever and arranged to cast a reflected image upon the first mirror, a cam arm movable over a table on the base, and a connection between the cam arm and lev'er whereby the moving of the arm moves the lever.

4. In a range finder, the combination with the mirror partly clear and partly opaque, and a sight for the n'iirror, of the lever lying at essentially right angles to the line between the sight and the aforesaid mirror, a flat spring connecting one end of the lever with a support and forming a hinge, a cam arm movable over a table, and an operative connection between the cam arm and the lever whereby the movement of the arm moves the lever.

5. A range finder having a fixed sight mirror, a lever arranged at essentially right angles to the sight line of the aforesaid mirror, a second mirror mounted on the lever and arranged to cast a reflected image upon over a table on the first mirror, a swinging arm having an eccentric connection with the aforesaid lever, a cam arm turning upon a table, and a sliding connection between the aforesaid arm and the cam arm.

6. A range finder comprising a sight mir- .aforesaid arm.

7. A range finder comprising a flat base having one part formed into a table, a sight mirror partly clear and partly opaque at one end of the table, a lever lying flatwise upon the base, a second mirrorsupported on the lei er and arranged to reflect an image upon the first n'iirror, aswinging arm lying flatwise on the base, an eccentric connection between the swinging arm and the lever, a keeper beneath which the swinging arm moves, and a cam arm pivoted on the aforesaid table and operatively connected with the aforesaid arm to move it.

8. A range finder comprising a flat base having one part formed into a table, a sight mirror partly clear and partly opaque at one end of the base, a lever lying flatwise upon the base, a second mirror supported on the lever and arranged to reflect an image upon the first mirror, a swinging arm lying generally parallel with the aforesaidlever, an eccentric connection between the swing ing arm and the lever, said connection being by means of a flat spring, and a cam arm pivoted on the table and operatively connected with the said swinging arm to move it.

ABRAHAM B. COX. Witnesses WARREN B. Hu'roHINsoN, M. G. ODoNNE-LL.

flopilea of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of latentm,

Washington, D. E. 

